suppose, some thousands on the ship. The little spider, when first
coming in contact with the rigging, was always seated on a single
thread, and not on the flocculent mass. This latter seems merely to be
produced by the entanglement of the single threads. The spiders were
all of one species, but of both sexes, together with young ones. These
latter were distinguished by their smaller size and more dusky colour.
I will not give the description of this spider, but merely state that
it does not appear to me to be included in any of Latreille's genera.
The little aeronaut as soon as it arrived on board was very active,
running about, sometimes letting itself fall, and then reascending the
same thread; sometimes employing itself in making a small and very
irregular mesh in the corners between the ropes. It could run with
facility on the surface of the water. When disturbed it lifted up its
front legs, in the attitude of attention. On its first arrival it
appeared very thirsty, and with exserted maxillae drank eagerly of
drops of water, this same circumstance has been observed by Strack: may
it not be in consequence of the little insect having passed through a
dry and rarefied atmosphere? Its stock of web seemed inexhaustible.
While watching some that were suspended by a single thread, I several
times observed that the slightest breath of air bore them away out of
sight, in a horizontal line.
On another occasion (25th) under similar circumstances, I repeatedly
observed the same kind of small spider, either when placed or having
crawled on some little eminence, elevate its abdomen, send forth a
thread, and then sail away horizontally, but with a rapidity which was
quite unaccountable. I thought I could perceive that the spider,
before performing the above preparatory steps, connected its legs
together with the most delicate threads, but I am not sure whether this
observation was correct.
One day, at St. Fe, I had a better opportunity of observing some
similar facts. A spider which was about three-tenths of an inch in
length, and which in its general appearance resembled a Citigrade
(therefore quite different from the gossamer), while standing on the
summit of a post, darted forth four or five threads from its spinners.
These, glittering in the sunshine, might be compared to diverging rays
of light; they were not, however, straight, but in undulations like
films of silk blown by the wind. They were more than a yard in length,
and diverged in an ascending direction from the orifices. The spider
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